I turned around, shocked, to see Lauren stood in the doorway- leaning against the doorframe.
"I didn't mean to scare you" she laughed, making her way into the centre of the room, "What are you doing here so late Miss Cabello?" she said, smiling.
"I could say the same thing for you Miss Jauregui" I laughed, making my way back to the conference room table and sitting back down in my chair- gathering the papers in front of me and attempting to organise them into files.
"Well... " she began, walking further into the room "First things first, do you want a drink?" Lauren said, pulling out a bottle of whiskey and 2 glasses from behind her back, smirking at me.
"Yes please." I said, as Lauren placed the glasses onto the wooden table and unscrewed the lid of the bottle. She smirked as she looked down at the desk, pouring two even glasses of whiskey and passing one to me.
"I'm here to apologise..." she began, giving me a small smile,"I flew you all the way out here... just to turn down all of your work. I'm supposed to be a part of the team but I've been really absent... I didn't help you, and now you're here on your own, working way past 11pm- purely because I'm a stubborn overachiever... I said I would mentor you but I never did... and I'm sorry..." she finished, looking up at me.
Lauren's eyes had changed, the normal vivid emerald colour had darkened into an intense deep green... It felt as though time had stopped, and I was stuck motionless in time- captivated by her eyes. They remained dark; like a forest at sunset- the green of the leaves clinging on to every last bit of light they could.
"What were you looking at?" she asked, sitting down in the chair opposite me, "You seemed pretty distracted until I walked in." she said- taking a sip of her drink- looking at me intently and waiting patiently for me to respond.
"You have to promise you won't laugh..." I began, glaring at Lauren before she gave me a slight nod. I continued:"I was looking at the stars and the moon..." Lauren looked up, intrigued "I've just always loved them, I don't know why...they're just so beautiful. They remind me of everything I've loved since was a kid... especially my sister"
"You have a sister?" Lauren smiled,
"Yeah...she's called Sofi..." I began"I told her before I left for university that whenever she missed me- she should just look up to the stars- because even though I couldn't be there with her, we would both be looking up at the exact same thing, and it would be like we were never apart in the first place." I finished, feeling the sad smile slowly spread across my face at the thought of my sister.
"That's beautiful..." I heard Lauren say from the other side of the table, "I miss my sister too- but I'm not as poetic as you... I just phone her once a week" Lauren said- filling the room with her contagious laugh- her face lit up at the sight of me joining in and her eyes crinkled at the corners, "She's called Taylor, we have been super close ever since we were kids- we used to do everything together... I also have a younger brother, Chris... But he's fairly distant, he kind of just goes off and does his own thing, and comes and goes when he wants..." Lauren trailed off, looking back up at me, her eyes meeting mine.
We continued to talk for what felt like forever. Even though she remained reserved, Lauren allowed me to see parts of her that I hadn't expected to see- especially after the last couple of weeks. Behind the arrogant and conceited exterior she put up, she was passionate, charming and intriguing- telling me all about her life before Jauregui Multinational...
Laurens POV:
Camila looked at me intensely as I spoke, her eyes meeting mine- allowing me to see their true colour. They were a fierce dusky brown with subtle golden flecks towards the centre- pulling me in, capturing my attention and drowning me with their sheer force. She was absolutely beautiful. She was wearing grey suit pants with a matching jacket, a white blouse and white heels- her hair in a low ponytail, with the side sections pulled out- perfectly framing her face. As she filled the room with her sweet and joyful laugh, I found it increasingly difficult to pull myself away from her beautiful features. Her skin resembled that of caramel, her eyelashes were long and graceful and her eyebrows were perfectly arched- further accentuating her delicate features.
"So..." Camila began- changing the subject,"What's with the flawless facade you put up at work?"
"What do you mean?" I said smirking- sitting up in my chair and interlocking my fingers, resting my elbows on the desk and looking at her inquisitively.
"At work, you put up this wall, you put on this brave face and pretend to be this arrogant, selfish, self centred person I now know you're not-" she continued,
"Self centred?" I grinned, "I was going for more of a narcissistic, egotistical, selfish-"
"You know what I mean!" Camila interrupted- seeing me laugh at her response and shooting me a death stare from the desk chair opposite, "You've been so nice to me tonight, you've shown me this side of you that I NEVER would have seen otherwise..."
"Is that a bad thing?" I said, looking at her inquisitively,
"Of course not, I like it..." she smiled at me sweetly, before taking another sip from her glass,"But why do you do it?"
"Well, if people see good they expect good- if everyone thinks you're a nice person, they expect that from you all the time: you can't slip up, have off days, disagree with other people... I guess I just don't want to have to live up to anyones expectations..." I said "And at work, if people thought I was friendly, approachable or submissive- everyone would walk all over me, deals wouldn't get closed and nothing in this place would EVER get done." I chuckled.
"You don't have to be like that around me..." Camila began, "...You scare me even when you're being kind."
"I guess I'll have to make it up to you it in some way..." I said slowly- smiling as she looked up at me, fascinated."I'll work with you tomorrow..." I said.
"What?" she said, shock plastered all over her face.
"I'll come in tomorrow and help you get this done" I smiled,"At this rate you need all of the help you can get." I said, pointing at the disorganised chaos of folders and papers the desk. I laughed at the astonishment on Camila's face before standing up, picking up the empty glasses and the half-empty bottle of whiskey from the wooden table. I slowly made my way towards the door...
"It's getting late... You should go home Miss Cabello" I smirked- playfully winking at her before turning around, and walking out of the conference room.